The present invention relates broadly to phase change refrigerant charged solar systems, and is more particularly directed to a solar heater comprised of a heat storage structure located interiorly of a building and connected in a closed loop to a refrigerant charged collector positioned exteriorly of the building in exposed relationship to the sun's rays.
Passive solar heating systems as conventionally utilized require that a house or other building have a large southern exposure of glass. With a system of this type, radiation from the sun enters through the glass, and gives up its heat to a storage material, which may be a masonry wall, a floor, or tanks containing a storage fluid. Relative simplicity of construction, and relatively little maintenance and low operational costs generally characterize such systems.
However, prior art passive solar heating systems of this type also suffer from a number of disadvantages. First of all, the house must be especially built to have a large glass area facing south. Also, the house usually must be overheated in the daytime in order to store heat for the night. Heat is thereby transferred into storage through the surface of the storage medium, hereby the hot surface picks up less of the available heat and also reflects heat into the surrounding area. Further, the glass area must be closed off and insulated whenever heat is not entering the house, or otherwise desirable heat will be lost. In addition, with the earlier system just described, there is little adaptability to a retrofit system.